Students at Central Middle School field their questions to astronaut Garrett Reisman, a Parsippany graduate, via an amateur radio hookup with the International Space Station.

Written by

Rob Jennings
Daily Record

PARSIPPANY -- Central Middle School experienced a first Monday, hosting a guest speaker from outer space.

NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman, a Parsippany native who attended the middle school in the early 1980s, fielded questions from students during an eight-minute amateur radio hookup with the International Space Station.

Reisman, who blasted into space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor in March, was 1,400 miles away from Parsippany when Monday's radio connection -- facilitated by the New Providence Amateur Radio Club -- began just after 1 p.m. ...